Oregon Fish & Wildlife Dept. - "Mind-Boggling" #s Of Sea Lions Occupy Astoria East Mooring Basin

[hatrack]

California sea lions are literally piling into Astoria’s East Mooring Basin. They’ve taken over every square foot of the boat docks, and they’re even lying on top of each other for lack of space. The latest sea lion count in the marina tallied a record 2,340 – a “mind-boggling number,” according to Bryan Wright of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Meanwhile California is seeing starving sea lion pups washing up on shore. There’s probably a connection there, according to Nate Mantua, research scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Mantua said unusually warm water temperatures in the Pacific stretching from the Gulf of Alaska all the way to Mexico have likely affected the fish seals and sea lions typically eat in the ocean. The population of sardines, one of the staples of their diet, is experiencing a major crash. Meanwhile, millions of smelt returned to the Columbia River this year.

“The male sea lions that migrate up the coast in the spring and winter, they’re probably having a hard time finding food in the usual places where they forage,” he said. “Whereas the lower Columbia River has a relative abundance of food with the smelt run and the early stages of the salmon run.”

EDIT

http://www.opb.org/news/article/hungry-sea-lions-pile-into-the-columbia-river/

[KT2000]

1. that is amazing

I hope they survive.

[hatrack]

2. Oh, of course not - already legislation in the works to allow killing to "protect the fish"

A new bill co-sponsored by Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader would address the growing number of sea lions congregating at Bonneville Dam by giving authorities more leeway to kill them. The Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act, co-sponsored by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., would change the Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow tribal members to kill sea lions and harbor seals. Before resorting to bullets, the tribal members would first need to make several unsuccessful attempts to move the animals and receive training from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The bill has support from the Coastal Conservation Association, a fishing group, and the Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

“Our tribes are working hard to restore balance, wherever we can, in a highly altered and degraded river system,” said Paul Lumley, the group’s executive director. “The Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act are thoughtful laws that need to be reconciled with one another.”

Bonneville Dam creates a barrier for fish in the Columbia River, making it a lucrative feeding ground for the sea lions. Because many of the salmon they eat are endangered, it also creates a dilemma for fish and wildlife managers.

EDIT

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/01/tribal_members_could_kill_colu.html

[KT2000]

3. Oh no -

sea lions have been blamed for the disregard of our rivers.
Here is how it works - the river near me is being restored to allow several endangered species of salmon to go upstream. So far $11 million has been spent on restoration and buying out homeowners. They are not through yet. Now an aquaculture farm - geoducks, will be placed in the path of their migration from the ocean to the river.
The industry wrote a law that makes them the preferred use of all shorelines in the state of Washington so they will get their way.

The sea lions will surely be blamed when the migrations are not successful.

[hatrack]

4. Well, let's see here . . . . we warm and acidify the oceans, block the Columbia watershed w. dams .

Overfish the anchovy and grunion and baitfish stocks, divert huge amounts of water to feed a national surplus of sugar beets and wheat, dump treated, partially treated and untreated sewage into the ocean (along with pesticide and fertilizer runoff) . . .

So obviously it must be the sea lions' fault when fish stocks collapse! We'd better kill a WHOLE SHITLOAD OF SEA LIONS, RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

[Scuba]

5. I see you have a solid grasp of the process.

[hatrack]

7. Not my first Turd Rodeo

.

[KT2000]

6. Yep - did you ever hear

about the sea lion at the Ballard Locks in Seattle? One lonely sea lion was blamed for the salmon shortage. They shot him. Such idiocy.

[Nihil]

8. Sounds like standard operational procedure these days.

Sickening, just sickening.